Sunday, May 31, 2009

As I was at Borders today, looking around, I had a peruse through the magazines. As I was looking at them, I realized so many are so similar anymore, or they're re-running the same projects they've run for the past 5 years, in a different color.

I realize there's only so many ways to make an A-line skirt, a pair of earrings, or the basic principles of a journal, but the overall projects and articles seem so similar.

Sooo...I ask. What magazines do you read? If you'd take the poll, I'd be eternally grateful. Well, grateful for the next couple of weeks. And if you want to name names, leave a comment.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Awhile back, I bought a wide assortment of bath & body products from Rachel Rene. Included in this assortment was handmade soap, lip butter, body mousse, bath bombs, a lotion bar, and a brown sugar scrub.

The first thing I tried was the lip butter in Cucumber Melon. Her lip balm is to die for! It has to be one of the smoothest, creamiest lip balms I've ever used. And I'm a lip balm addict - I've tried just about every lip balm out there! And it's so pocketbook friendly.

The next thing I went for was the body mousse. It is delightful, as well. It looks like it's going to be heavy, but it's not! It's light as air, yet incredibly rich & moisturizing. I think it's perfect for summer.

For those rough spots that need a little more attention, check out the lotion bars. In all my years of buying fancy-schmancy beauty products (more than I care to admit), I'd never seen one of these! It's like lip balm for your body. I love it for my elbows & my feet in sandal weather when I'm between pedicures.

I've used scrubs my whole life - even when I was a kid. I don't know what it is, but there's just something about the texture & scooping it out of the jar that I love. However, I'd never used a brown sugar scrub. The texture is so fine that it gives a soft scrubbing, if that makes any sense. It makes me feel like I could use it every day, although I will not.

For those times when you need an extra bit of indulgence, try one of the bath bombs. It's at least as pampering as the giant bombs you get from some of the big companies.

If you're in the market for some high end b&b products that tread easily on the budget, check out Rachel Rene. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Monday, May 25, 2009

What do you do with an abundance of liquor bottles? They're too good to toss into the recycling bin, and I just know they'd be great repurposed into ...something. What that something is, I don't know.

Maybe I should backtrack and explain a little. We have a bar. It's a small, little bar, but a bar nonetheless. And what do people do at a bar? They drink. Alcohol, generally. And what does booze come in? Really nifty, spiffy bottles!

And when crafty, creative people see nifty bottles, what do they do? They drag them home!

The pictures show about a week's worth of empties. Well, the more interesting ones, at least. The plain ones, they can go in the recycle bin.

Share your best tips & ideas in the comments.

One person will win a prize from Sparkle Candy on Etsy! A winner will be chosen randomly on June 1st, and be notified by the 3rd. So, be sure to leave some way for me to contact you!

You can earn extra entries by tweeting about this giveaway, blogging about this giveaway, and by following my blog. So, you can have up to 4 entries!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Jayne has collected images & ephemera for years and years for use in our kits and sheets, as well as her own projects. Just ask about her fruit crate label collection - no, wait. Better not. There's thousands (literally) of them.

We (Jayne & I) decided to make available a small portion of the collection available on the Scrapscrap website. The only request is that you give a shoutout to the site if you enjoy the images.

Some images are hi-resolution, some are standard. Some have been cleaned up, some have not. All are great images!

New images are added randomly, and old ones are deleted randomly, as well. Check back often, and tell a friend.

You can click on the Scrapscrap link, & the link to the image gallery is under the information header.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

As I was planning my Autumn/Winter marketing campaign (yes, it's actually that time of year!), I had a thought - why do you choose to shop the way you do? Specifically, why do you choose to shop from Etsy rather than websites?

Do you shop on Etsy because you're already there?

What would it take for you to buy from a website, rather than Etsy? Is it free shipping? A free gift? Something else?